German Chancellor Angela Merkel takes off her mask when she gives a press conference on the real situation amid the new coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic, following a meeting with the so-called Crown-Cabinet, on November 2, 2020 in Berlin.
Kay Nietfeld | AFP | Getty Images
The German economy contracted 5% in 2020, according to full-year GDP (gross domestic product) data released on Thursday.
Preliminary figures, which were slightly better than the 5.1% forecast, come after a year of economic turmoil for Germany and the rest of the world, as the coronavirus pandemic led to the disruption of companies and large areas of the economy.
Coronavirus cases have caused several blockages in public life and economic activity in Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel announced last week that the latest blockade would be extended until the end of the month.
Amid concerns over the spread of a more virulent variant of the virus, initially identified in the UK, the German newspaper Bild reported earlier this week that Merkel had informed a meeting of lawmakers from her Democratic Union party Christian that the current blockade could last until early April.
On Thursday, Germany reported more than 25,000 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 1,978,590, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute.